


Vongola's Pride

by amethyst_ice22



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossing Parallels, Drama, Family, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:44:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethyst_ice22/pseuds/amethyst_ice22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sawada Tsunayoshi dies at the age of 86, looking peacefully angelic in his sleep. Then, he wakes up in his fifteen year old body in a world where the Vongola boss wasn't him. Now, he must right the wrongs of fate and take the mantle once again with his guardians ten years older than him and hates Vongola to the core.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New World

 

* * *

**  
Prologue**

Sawada Tsunayoshi, the greatest boss of Vongola's history, had died at the age of 86. He had aged gracefully, charming the bosses of many and for the first time in the mafia's history, bloodshed had lessened to the point that only the most needed killings were done. The times had changed in his rule, the revolution sought after by his ancestor, done skillfully in the hands of his one true heir.

Sadly, things needed to come to an end. Whether good or bad, at some point in time, lives will pass on and the cycle repeats all over again. And for the tenth generation boss of the Vongola, his life too, had passed on. For almost thirty years now, Vongola had been given to his son and heir, Sawada Tsubame. His son's name given in the honor of his deceased wife. For those thirty years, however, Tsuna worked in the shadows, giving way to the smallest of hopes and life which was long extinguished in the cruel world of the mafia.

But years had gone by too fast.

Now, he lies on his bed, surrounded by his beloved guardians and only son, his eyes closed peacefully. He breathed his last breath, a small smile gracing his lips and then Tsuna was gone, from then and forever more. The howling cries of his loved ones reverberated across the halls bathing every person within hearing range the same anguish they were forced to feel.

Their sky was no more, the one person that made them feel the most at home, the one person who had accepted them for who they were without bias and only unconditional love. On that dreary night of October 15, a day just after Tsuna's birthday, the tenth boss of Vongola was no more.

...

A cradle rocked eerily in the silent room. A lone man stood shrouded by the darkness and illuminated only by the flashes of thunder raging outside. His eyes, once brilliant gems which sparkled at the smallest of things, now dull and empty as he stared at the prone figure of a woman bathed in her own blood. A small bundle wrapped securely in blankets cradled in her arms.

Gusts of wind seeped through the open windows and his form shivered against the biting cold. The gun in his hand glinting silver against the moonlight. The static of his intercom suddenly blared rousing him from his daze.

"Storm, report." Blunt and cruel.  _His voice always did sound like that._

Storm grabbed the black device with stiff hands, his voice just as cold. "Targets eliminated." His words felt like bile corroding his teeth and tongue. Storm resisted the urge to empty the contents of his stomach as the laughter from the other side reached his ears.

"Well done." His silver tresses shone momentarily as Storm walked away from the corpse at his feet, his eyes closing painfully.  _They were innocent, so why?_

"Return home, Storm. See you later." The tone had suddenly sounded warm yet it sounded wrong, just so  _so_  wrong. He cupped his hand against his mouth. He felt sick and he wished that things didn't turn out this way.

"Yes, Juudaime." The line went dead, and so did his heart.

Storm walked mechanically out of the two-story house, his whole body rigid with disgust, and his hands shaking as the bomb he had set at every corner of the humble home detonated simultaneously. He didn't dare look back in fear of what he might see because he knew, the flames had swallowed everything. He didn't even need his dying will flames to do the job.

Storm had seen it so many times and every single time he did, he still felt that same feeling eating him away. It was always then that he uttered in the deepest pits of his being a small prayer. An utterly useless prayer because long ago, he had realized that miracles do not exist, especially not in this dark world he lived in.

_Please save me._

...

A teenage boy gasped for breath as if he had been drowning and coughing up the water lodged in his throat. Caramel-colored eyes blinked open, his mouth gasping for breath. Cough after cough escaped his pale lips and Tsuna struggled to keep himself at bay. His wide and panicked eyes surveyed the room.  _Where? Why? How?_ Everything was the same, every crevice, every misplaced clothes, and every homework strewn over his desk.

Everything was exactly fucking the same. With trembling feet and shaking fingers, he slipped off the bed, making his way towards the mirror inside his closet. Large and innocent eyes stared back at him, his hair resting on his shoulders limply. Entranced, he touched the edges of the glass, his gaze still plastered disbelievingly on the surface. A quick and painful pinch on his cheek confirmed everything.

It wasn't a dream.

"Fuck this." Tsuna growled, his eyes sharpening into slits. His expression looked so out of place on his boyish features and it only infuriated him more. He glared at his reflection. Oh he knew, he knew oh so well what happened.

He had died and willingly so, quietly accepting death waiting on him for so many years. So why the  _hell_  was he in his fifteen year old body, looking young, prim, and absolutely useless? He was supposed to move on to the afterlife and be reunited with his wife and parents, even with his ancestor but  _no._ Instead, he wakes up in his old goddamn body looking like the puny boy he was. Someone was seriously fucking with the program here.  _  
_

What the hell happened?

...

When breakfast had passed and his tummy full, Tsuna had calmed down, having the mindset to actually be rational and stop  _goddamn_ panicking. He watched and analysed his surroundings carefully. Apparently, his mother was alive, still humming as she lovingly cooked him breakfast. His father, Tsuna rolled his eyes, was still busy mining in some place he didn't bother to ask.

Everything was the same. The only difference he could see right now was the fact that he excelled in school. That was the only good thing he can think of because seriously, his mentality wouldn't be able to handle  _pretending_ to be an idiot. He had been a mafia boss, thank you very much and he was damn good at his job.

Tsuna frowned into his cup, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Now that he thought about it, there was another thing missing. The one constant in his life he hated and loved with his whole being. The one person who made him who he was, and who he could ever be.

Reborn was  _not_  there.

In his previous life which he was sure as hell was not a dream—his sky flames were proof of it—the baby hitman had arrived and bulldozed into his life when he was  _fourteen_ , so where was he? He looked up from his warm cup of chocolate and called out.

"Kaa-san?" She turned around to face him, that gentle smile he had missed so much adorning her face. Tsuna smiled in return.

"Could I skip school today?" She didn't even blink when she acquiesced. In fact, Nana looked relieved. Tsuna quirked an eyebrow at this peculiar behavior. Was he some bookworm without friends?

"Sure, Tsu-kun. I'm glad you asked. You need a break and time with your friends, you know." She admonished him lightly. Tsuna sighed. Guess he was right.

He shook his head and stood up, bringing along his dishes. "Thanks, kaa-san." Lightly pecking her on the cheek, he whirled around, and walked hurriedly towards the door. His mind so intent on finding out about this strange world he unknowingly found himself in that he missed the wide and surprised eyes of his mother as he disappeared from view.

Nana stared after her son's retreating back, disbelief splattered across her face. Her son had always been so despondent and skittish, and not once had he initiated contact before. A small smile graced her lips, her hands cleaning the dishes her son had just used. Maybe, he was finally beginning to warm up to her.  _Finally,_ she breathed out.

 _Maybe, he had friends now._  The thought warmed her to the very core. His son needed them, whoever they were, especially now, when the times were so dreary. Life in Namimori had drained slowly over the years and she wished deep in her heart that whatever it was haunting this once lively town would leave her family alone. It was just a tragic thing on her part that the very thing she was afraid of was the exact same thing his son had been a part of long ago.

...

Dressed in faded jeans and a plain shirt, Tsuna wandered the streets of his hometown, his wizened eyes beaming in delight. No matter how long it was or how long he had been away, Namimori still held a special place in his heart. It would always be his home even though he spent less than a quarter of his life here. It was in this place where his most treasured memories were all made, and it was also in this place where he had vowed to protect the most precious things in his life.

 _Nothing has changed._ A little reminiscing wasn't so bad. It made him feel less tense and more accepting of the fact that he really was alive again. Though another part of him was rallying inside his head, demanding time and time again. Why the hell was he alive again? And without that pesky little hitman to boot! Tsuna wanted to stomp his foot and sulk like a brat. Sure, he had died an old man but right now he was a juvenile teenager and he had every right to act childish!

"Give it up, lady! Come on or I'll shoot!"

Tsuna abruptly stopped walking, his eyes bulging at the commotion happening before his very eyes. In broad daylight, a robbery was taking place. His mouth tilted downwards, his teeth grinding against each other. A robbery happening in the middle of the street, and no one seems concerned with what's happening. The people around him were turning a blind eye to the crime unfolding in  _broad daylight._

Growling low, instincts took over and with one fell swoop, he crouched and dashed towards the unsuspecting man, kicking him squarely on the face. The movement was too fast, and the momentum too good, that the robber found himself kissing the cement in three seconds flat.

Tsuna hovered over the crumpled form, his eyes shining in disgust. He placed one foot over the man's neck, effectively halting his struggling. One wrong move, and the offender's windpipe will be crushed to bits. It was something Tsuna made sure the robber understood. He looked up at the frightened woman and asked gently.

"Are you alright?" His voice was light and friendly but the woman only stared at him, her eyes gaping and her mouth hanging open. She was shaking badly, staring at him as if  _he_  was the one who wanted to rob her instead. Tsuna filed these observations at the back of his head, all the while keeping the same soft expression on his face.

"Miss?" Tsuna pressed. She stepped back and spun on her heels, leaving Tsuna staring after her doubly confused. He looked down and stared unflinchingly at his captive.

"What's up with her?" The man snarled and pushed his foot off his neck. Tsuna didn't bat an eyelash at this pathetic form of resistance.

"You're a complete idiot!" Tsuna blinked, and the man fumed. "You think you're being heroic by doing this?" Tsuna yawned into his hand, effortlessly dodging the punch directed to his face. "Think again, brat! In this town, no one's a saint!"

Another swipe to his head had him ducking under the attacker's hand, his body rotating against the motion of the man's body. Now standing behind him, Tsuna kicked the hoodlum's back without remorse and indifferently watched as the man plummeted face first into the ground. Tsuna walked around the lump staining the ground and stopped before the man's face, bending slightly to catch the angry gaze that stared back at him.

"No one's a saint, true. But not everyone's a monster." His words burned with anger, his eyes blazing in intensity. He looked around him and watched as some of his audience flinched in guilt before turning away completely. Tsuna drew himself up, a frown marring his face. He glared one last time at the vermin squirming on the ground, and promptly walked away.

Tsuna looked around him one last time, and his suspicions were confirmed. This wasn't Namimori.  _His_ Namimori. Because he knew, crimes like these didn't happen in his hometown and so blatantly at that. It was time he gets to the bottom of this. It was time he finds out why he was a world not his  _own._

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dated the events based on the year the Reborn series was aired which was on the year of 2006.

* * *

Being a mafia boss had been fun in its own way. Having the power and authority to order and move his people just at the right places and at the right time, as well as having the luxury to watch everything unfold, now  _that_  was fun. Well, saying it like that made him sound like some tyrant which he thankfully wasn't.

Tsuna can't deny though that he had toyed with the idea of playing with people countless times, until Reborn gets wind of it one way or another, and whips his ass back to shape. And Tsuna was forced to obey with his tail wagging between his legs. Because no matter how many years had passed and no matter how stronger he had become, Reborn still had a hold on him so strong that he was left with no choice but to do as was bid.

Tsuna was sure it was because the hitman had relentlessly used all means to traumatize him at the tender age of fourteen where he was young, naive,  _and_ stupid. It goes to show that it would carry on to his adult years. Even to his dying day, Reborn didn't stray from his thoughts.  _How sad,_ Tsuna thought, a sardonic smile playing at his lips.

But he also can't deny the fact that Reborn was the pivotal force, the momentum, and the very center of the chain of events that triggered the rest of his life into gear. The sad thing is that now, he didn't have that. Tsuna sighed, letting his fingers brush against his mangy spikes of hair.

Where does he even start?

In his previous life, he may have had power, authority, money, and connections, but right now all he had was a measly thousand yen and his brain chock-filled with memories of his past life. Those and his flames, anyway, which Tsuna was pretty sure he wouldn't be flaunting any time soon because seriously, the repercussions of revealing flames, especially  _his_ , weren't something he fancied knowing.

And yes, he still had his fighting abilities and instincts honed to battle anyone and anything that comes his way but his untrained body hindered everything else. Until now, he could feel the soreness of having to suddenly fight without considering the limitations of his old body. He had to put his back muscles to every punch he delivered. Had to use the movement of his body for every kick he swung and had to strain his eyes for every attack he had to avoid.

All in all, Tsuna can say he would die within the next thirty minutes if he kept trying to overexert himself, which he was doing continuously for the past two hours. Seriously, what was wrong with this Namimori? It's as if in every street corner there was someone waiting to mangle you, and every road had its own delinquent lying in wait for its new victim.

Tsuna was  _not_ amused, not in the slightest. If he was in his  _own_ body, he would have sent all of these dabblers to the afterlife. Let's see then if they wake up  _again_  like he unfortunately did. Sighing, he flopped on his bed—cause you know, lunch wasn't something he was going to miss, his mother was the best cook there is, after all—and began ticking down one by one what his leads were so far. _  
_

One, Reborn wasn't here.

Two, Namimori was as crazy as fuck. (I mean what's with the trend these days? Murder and robbery?)

Three, Hibari, his wayward guardian, and his minions were nowhere to be found.

Four, none of his guardians could be found. Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei, and Lambo. He didn't have the time to look for the others in Kokuyu Land. He had been too hungry to think about anything else.

Five, he was still connected to the mafia somehow. (He still had his Sky flames, goddamnit.)

Six, his father was still an idiot.

Tsuna sat upright, his eyes widening considerably. He mentally wanted to strangle himself. Seriously! His father was  _still_ an idiot! He stood to his full height, which wasn't much really, and quickly made his way over to his parents' room. It's a good thing his mother stepped out about five minutes ago for some grocery shopping, meaning he was scott-free.

Walking towards the far end of the room, Tsuna stopped before the bed, and crouched to the ground. On his knees, he peeked at the many boxes under the queen-sized bed and reached for that all-too familiar case his father was fond of using so much. Pulling it out, Tsuna coughed as dust exploded in his face. _Geez, don't they clean their stuff?_

The brunet heaved a breath, wiped away the remnants of the dust clouding his vision, clutched the briefcase in his hands and made a run for it. Adrenaline rushed through his head and it made him feel light-headed, and  _young._ Such simple things he had forgotten when he aged were things he took for granted when he was younger. Now that he gets to relieve his life, albeit reluctantly, he resolved to make every day count.

The sound of his door locking behind him gave him all the privacy he needed. His mother here seemed content leaving him to his own devices unlike  _his_  mother who couldn't stop worrying about him, until Reborn showed himself. The reason mainly because in this lifetime, he was  _smart_ and could take care of himself long enough that he wouldn't accidentally kill himself when left alone for long periods of time. Tsuna huffed. At least, he got over his dame-ness sometime ten years later.

Sitting on the floor, he fumbled with the lock combination of the black case, only to stop and stare at the side facing him. A logo was carefully embroidered on the leather, every stitch was precise, making the colors pop against the monotone background. His eyes became half-lidded, nostalgia flooding his senses as he carefully run his fingers over the surface. This emblem,  _this_  mark which controlled his life and irrevocably became his life, the Vongola insignia.

"Beautiful..." His voice had lowered an octave, coming out in a whisper. The clam. The crossed riffles. The bullet. And Vongola. Everything was because of this very organization given to him by  _him._

"Giotto, are you satisfied?" He muttered slowly, his eyes transfixed on the same thing. His fingers stopped moving, his eyes closing.

"It flourished in the end, didn't it?" A shuddering breath, and the lock opened. Tsuna's eyes snapped open and a wry smile made its way on to his face. His father really was still an idiot. Who leaves such an important case in his home, unguarded?

Discounting the fact that his son would be able to open it, but still, you never know when your son will wake up with a spirit of his dead self from another world. So yeah, Iemitsu was still an idiot. Tsuna nodded to himself, completely convinced with his deduction before reining on his flames, the orange flickers disappearing in an instant.

The case opened and Tsuna was greeted with the sight of stacks and stacks of documents neatly bound together. One after another, his hands did quick work, his eyes scanning page after page at record speed. Within the next hour, the former boss of Vongola had breezed through every document, his eyes uncharacteristically sharp and calculating. A frown settled on his lips.

The records did not match up.

Everything was so disoriented it made his mind reel. What happened to Vongola in this time period? There was something Tsuna was missing here. The accounts of CEDEF showed an alarming amount of depletion of funds in the last five years then abruptly plummeted in the next three before it skyrocketed to a jaw-dropping degree in the final two.

Tsuna leaned back, his eyes scanning another paper showing the anomaly he couldn't understand. The charts, the graphs, the tables,  _everything_  was misplaced. There was no certain order and for someone who had been looking over papers for years  _and_ years, Tsuna was bound to pinpoint a pattern.

Something didn't feel right, and he didn't even need his Hyper Intuition to confirm his suspicions. There was just  _something there._  And he couldn't figure it out because Tsuna knew shit about this timeline. He needed a clue, a piece of the puzzle,  _anything_  to get him on track.

"Ah, a complete bust, isn't it?" He asked to no one in particular. He sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration before resting his head against the side drawers of his desk. He stared at the ceiling, his thoughts coming to a complete blank.

Groaning softly, Tsuna laid his head on his raised knees, his hands coming up to tuck his legs in. He was pathetic. He couldn't even solve a little riddle made by his father of all people. He looked up and glared at the papers scattered all over his floor. What a sight he made. The most feared boss in all of Vongola's history was childishly boring holes into measly pieces of paper.

"Fuck this." Tsuna stood up and faced his desk, grimacing at the mess before reaching for the paper at the far end. Better get his hands busy while his brain was on a standstill. Tsuna never did like sitting around and doing nothing.

Reborn made sure he didn't sit in one place for long, anyway, even when the he was swamped with paperwork, the sadistic hitman made it a point to fire a gun, throw a bomb, a hammer, and so forth from every angle of the room. Tsuna didn't resent his tutor's methods, though sometimes he wished that Reborn would tone it down a bit, which he never did much to his dismay.  _  
_

Tsuna arranged his homework in order of importance, stopping only when he saw some of his graded works. He whistled low, his eyes appreciative. Now  _that_  is what one could call impressive. It seems the Tsunayoshi of this world was one hell of a smart busybody.

A perfect score on every test? Even he couldn't manage a feat when he was fifteen in his world. Tsuna stilled, his eyebrows arching in confusion. So if he's here, where's the other Tsunayoshi? The frown was back on his face, and this time, it planned on staying for a long while. That should be the biggest question here.

Where in this fucked up world was the original Sawada Tsunayoshi?

Tsuna clutched the papers in his hands, his expression twisted in a grimace. Seriously. Why is he even here? Shouldn't his interference be fucking up the dimensions or something? That was one thing. He died in his world. By forcing himself on this body where he obviously didn't belong, he snatched away the life Sawada Tsunayoshi of  _this_ world should have.  _That's just sick_ _._

It was a disgusting thought and Tsuna for the first time since he woke up here, wanted so badly to go back to his old, wrinkly, and weakened old body. He didn't belong here. He  _needed_ to go back. He wouldn't allow himself to rob away a life that should still be  _living_ unlike his own which should have passed on.

Placing his newly made stack beside his text books, Tsuna sat heavily on his desk, his mood utterly depleted. His aplomb moments ago completely gone and left in its wake a man tired and lost. Why was he here anyway? Why did he have to live again when he rightfully deserved to die? He lived a fulfilled life, albeit a bloody one, but a fulfilled life is still fulfilled life while his counterpart barely lived his.

Tsuna stretched his hands over the table, bumping things here and there, letting some of the papers he didn't have the chance to file fall over the desk.  _Thump._ Tsuna peered over the wooden surface and stared curiously at the notebook that fell with the documents he intentionally knocked over.

Picking it up, he examined the scratched sides, the yellowing edges and promptly browsed through the pages only to backtrack and freeze. He loomed over the well-used parchment, his eyes brightening once he realized what he had exactly in his hands.

A diary.

A journal of his life. A record of Sawada Tsunayoshi of  _this_ life. Suddenly giddy. Tsuna flipped to the first page and before long he was transfixed, the story of his other self flowing seamlessly into his thoughts.

**October 8, 2002**

_Kaa-san gave this to me today. She said that it could help me understand myself better. I don't understand what she means but I accepted it because I had nothing else to do. Writing my feelings like this was still better than staring at my wall all day. Homework was just too easy._

Tsuna stopped reading at the first paragraph. His counterpart was ten at this age, right? Why the hell does he have such a good grasp on sentence flow and grammar? At fourteen,  _he_  didn't even know which was which, and what was what. Tsuna deflated, feeling insulted, but read on.

_Kids my age are all dumb. Why couldn't they think the way I did? I wasn't a monster! I just found things easy to understand. It's not my fault they were stupid. Dictionaries had their purposes and I just made use of it._

The entry ended shortly and Tsuna turned to the next one which was dated the next year. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at this. The entries were inconsistent but if it helped him understand his other self better then why not?

**March 15, 2003**

_Wow, the last time I wrote here was months ago? Not my fault though. My books were piling up and writing on a journal isn't exactly worth my time. But since it's here now, I guess it'll be okay to continue writing._

_Anyway, tou-san came home today. That idiot tou-san didn't actually think that I was stupid enough to know mining wasn't his job, right?_

Tsuna snorted. Damn right he wasn't  _that_ stupid.

_He had his big, big black suitcase when he got home. He didn't have that when he left two years ago. I know. He only had a yellow hat which I see on some of the construction workers here in Namimori. My dad's stupid so maybe he didn't think he needed more clothes for travelling._

_But the black suitcase had a pretty design. I wanted to touch it but tou-san stashed it away in his room and told me never to ever touch it. See? My tou-san is stupid. Never ever tell a child, especially a curious one, to never do something, it just makes them want to do it more._

Tsuna chuckled a bit. At least the Tsunayoshi of this time was a witty little brat and not a pathetic wimp like he was. Another page, and his eyes focused again.

**November 15, 2003**

_Seriously, why do I even keep this thing? I only write on it when I accidentally find it which in my case, almost never. My room has this tendency to swallow up everything. I wasn't messy, mind you._

Tsuna snorted in disbelief before continuing on.

_Kaa-san is strange. I don't like her that much. She keeps on staring at me strange, I don't know why but she always does. I'm not strange, I'm just me, aren't I?_

Tsuna frowned at this. Nana didn't seem strange when he interacted with her a while ago. Deciding quickly, Tsuna turned to the middle of the small notebook and began reading another entry. He could just read the parts he skipped later on.

**May 15, 2006**

_For years, I knew I was different from others. At first I thought that it was the others who were but as times went by and as I learned new things, I knew then that I was the one who diverged from the others. And perhaps it's this difference that I found out about it early._

_Flames._

Tsuna gasped and pulled back, his eyes large. This Tsunayoshi knew? And without Reborn? Tsuna leaned forward and began reading once again, but this time with a sense of urgency which wasn't present moments ago.

_I read about it a few days ago in a site I hacked because even after all these years, that logo I saw on tou-san's case didn't leave my thoughts._

_Vongola, it said. Clams. I laughed like a lunatic when I understood what Vongola meant. Seriously? Clams? Who gives a batshit lame name like that?_

Tsuna couldn't help it. He chortled aloud, his eyes glimmering in delight. Even without friends, his counterpart remained strong unlike him.

_But at least I knew better now. From the start, I knew he didn't work as a miner. Come on, who mines in Antarctica? But kaa-san always bought it. Good thing I didn't inherit their stupidity._

Amusing his other self was, Tsuna still couldn't accept the fact that this Tsunayoshi disliked his mother. He'll have to dig up more dirt later on if he wanted to find out the reason why.

_From what I gathered, there was supposed to be a head honcho or something who was the Sky. He also needed his guardians to be rightfully acknowledged as the boss._

_Storm, Rain, Thunder, Sun, Cloud, and Mist._

_They each had their own color which represented the attributes of the guardians while the Sky, the one who accepted all was designated as the Sky Guardian._

_I knew there was more to that because I had it too. Flames, like I said. They were beautiful. Full of life and brilliant. Accidentally, I discovered I had Sky flames. Falling off the stairs, and having these so-called flames soften the fall, I had been scared but there was one thing I can't deny. Having Sky Flames, doesn't it mean I'm a candidate for the position of boss?_

The entry ended there, causing Tsuna to almost rip the page in frustration. Why were the entries so goddamned short? Breathing softly, he 'calmly' turned yet another page.

**June 18, 2006**

_Tou-san' s home again but this time, he didn't come home alone. He came home with someone else. The man tou-san brought home wore an all black suit. He looked scary and I didn't dare come near him. Instead, I locked myself inside my room where I secretly took my pills one by one._

Pills? Those weren't in the entries before or maybe he skipped that part? Tsuna didn't like how this sounded.

_My throat hurts more as days pass and I never understood why it's like this until I went to the doctor on my own. Maybe that's why kaa-san never really liked me because I was sick. On top of that, I was too smart for a twelve year old. But how can I be anything else? I'm not one to deny myself of who I am. Not now. Not_  ever.

Tsuna smiled sadly at this. How admirable his other self was. Tsunayoshi was strong, stronger than him, and stronger than he could ever be. Tsuna couldn't help but be inspired by him.

_During lunch, the scary man kept staring at me and my stupid tou-san was too busy flirting with kaa-san to notice anything else. When it got to the point that I couldn't take it anymore, I looked up and stared at the scary man straight in the eye and froze._

_It was Take-ojisan's son! I know that face all too well. Take-ojisan had a picture frame of his son hanging in his shop. He had been kind and friendly and always gave me free sushi. Sadly, he died last year due to cardiac arrest._

Tsuna's eyes widened.  _What the hell?_ It can't be Yamamoto and his dad his counterpart was talking about, right? Well, he could only know for sure if he continued reading on.

_To think they had the best sushi in town._

Tsuna gasped in disbelief. He was fucking right!

_But Take-ojisan always talked about his son, how he went to Italy to study and how he's such a good son, and all that. Take-ojisan also said that it's been nine years since he last saw his son._

What. the. Fuck? Nine years?  _Nine years?_ Tsuna resisted the urge to shout obscenities until he could flush out the confusion and anxiety which pooled at his chest. He couldn't understand a thing anymore. Taking a deep breath, Tsuna forced himself to continue.

_So if this was Take-ojisan's son, why did he come back only now? I had stared too long and so carefully I turned away and began eating my meal, ignoring the stare still glued to me. When lunch ended, I asked him why, plain and simple. My curiosity got the best of me, I guess. To my surprise, Take-ojisan's son answered all my questions._

_When he finished his studies, he became too busy with his work. It was only now that he was given the chance to come back but sadly, his father passed away before he could visit him. Take-ojisan's son looked really sad and for some reason, I felt it too and I didn't like it._

_I decided then and there that I would befriend this man. It wouldn't hurt to try, right?_

Tsuna eagerly turned another page, his excitement too much to contain. He was finally getting to the good part.

**June 26, 2006**

_Tou-san and Take-nii left just a while ago. It didn't take much guessing that the company Take-nii worked for was actually Vongola. Until now, I still didn't understand what Vongola really was but I did know that it wasn't an ordinary company because if you needed flames to take over the organization, then you're not running an ordinary business._

_Curiosity once again bested me and since it's been plaguing me for weeks, I had to ask him what the flames really were. There was no way in hell was I going to ask tou-san anything. Who knows what he'd do? He was stupid and 'overprotective.' Instead, I asked Take-nii because I knew I could trust him. It was just a gut feeling I get sometimes and so I went with the flow and showed him my Sky flames._

_But..._

Tsuna almost roared when he heard a knock on his door. Schooling his features into that of fake pleasantry, he walked over his door stiffly and smiled wide.

"Yes, kaa-san?"

His mother smiled at him, and replied. "Dinner's ready, Tsu-kun." Tsuna faltered and gave his mother a sad smile.

"I'm not really hungry, kaa-san. Could I eat it later as a midnight snack?" He gave his best grin and almost sighed in relief when she nodded, her expression amicable and understanding.

"I'll bring it up later then?"

Tsuna quickly shook his head. "No, I can do it, kaa-san." She smiled one last time before disappearing down the stairs. Tsuna sighed this time and firmly locked his door before running to his desk. His gaze landing on the last word he read.

_But...his reaction had been strange and almost quickly, he grabbed my shoulders and slightly shook me. His eyes were wide. He looked like he was panicking. I couldn't understand why he was acting like this. He only told me never to show my flames to anyone, even my father. Never ever again, he said._

_Those words echoed inside my head until I lied down for bed that night. I couldn't sleep. Was it wrong to have those flames? But I felt it. I'm not wrong. I was sure that when Take-nii looked me in the eye last night, I saw something blue._

_A flame._

_Blue flames._

_He was the Rain Guardian._

Tsuna felt like he was choking. Was this was what he was missing? There were too many loose ends that he couldn't begin to try and solve the mystery of his other self. If Yamamoto was the Rain Guardian, then what was Sawada Tsunayoshi? Who was the boss? Shaking, he began reading the next entry.

**July 9, 2006**

_For days, I tried searching and searching. Hacking one site after another but not one page could tell me what Vongola was. I was becoming restless because I knew I didn't have much time. My life was dwindling away. I knew I only had less than a year left to live. The pills were becoming ineffective, my system long used to those disgusting-tasting bullet-shaped things._

_Wakase-sensei had been telling my mother lies on my behalf. Telling her that he was only a child with a weak constitution, when in fact, I had terminal cancer._

Tsuna's breath hitched, and his fingers trembled. Why did he feel so scared all of a sudden?

_I knew I was making him do a crime. Doctors weren't supposed to lie about their patient's condition but I pleaded with him. I'd rather live my life the way I wanted it to, no matter how short rather than live it longer confined to a bed. That would kill me faster. I was being selfish, but this was my life, and I choose to live it the way I see fit._

_So before I die, I need to know. What's Vongola? And why does it seem as if it was hurting Take-nii?_

Tsuna paused, his fingers gliding over those ominous words. What did Tsunayoshi mean?

_I can see._

_I know._

_I can feel._

_I believe._

_These words kept on repeating in my head whenever I was met with Take-nii's empty gaze. He talked about his life in Italy, looking positively happy whenever he talked about Hayato, whoever that is, and his other friends but his eyes looked dead whenever our eyes met, or whenever he thought I wasn't looking. Why is that Take-nii?_

Tsuna gave a wry smile. He was thinking the same thing, actually.

**October 14, 2006**

_I turned fourteen today. Can you believe how time passes so fast? And in another year, I would be gone. It hurts. It really does. I had so many more things I wanted to accomplish. So many goals to attain and so many countries I wanted to explore but we can't have everything, can we?_

_I can only be content with what I have. I live a life where I can eat three meals a day, a mother who loves me but doesn't know how to express it, and a father who works throughout the year to feed his family no matter how much of a liar he was. So see? I'm blessed._

Tsuna's smile turned soft, a small flutter in his chest as he read the same paragraph at least three times. How mature and wise this Tsunayoshi was. It made him feel inadequate and unworthy.

_About two weeks ago, tou-san went home again, which was surprising given the fact that in the past years, he only came home about twice a year. This year, however, he had come home a total of four times, and this time was his fifth._

_And just like last time, he brought another guest. Another man who wore a suit, all black like Take-nii. What caught my attention was that this man had silver hair and peridot-colored eyes. I knew right away who he was, Hayato, as Take-nii once described._

_But unlike Take-nii, Hayato-san was really really scary. He glared at me as soon as our eyes made contact. His frown never leaving his face the entire time tou-san introduced the guest to kaa-san and myself._

_For the next three days, I avoided him like the plague and did everything I could just to stay out of his way but my curiosity was once again peeked when I saw him smoking outside one night, sitting alone on the bench at the front porch._

_I asked him why he smoked and just like Take-nii, he answered. He told me he had developed the habit when his mother passed away long ago. I told him it was bad for his health but he only smiled, and to my surprise, ruffled my hair and patted my head._

_I'm not some brat._

_I slapped the offending hand away and watched shamefully as Hayato-san laughed. It sounded rough and smooth at the same time. He looked better with a smile on his face than the constant frowns and scowls almost permanently stuck on his face during the day._

_Another three days later, and I knew I had to ask. What were flames? To prove my point, I showed him my Sky flames. I wasn't surprised when he gave the same reaction as Take-nii. He looked ready to explode. Hayato-san looked worse for wear, and it scared me a bit. Why did Hayato-san look like he was falling apart?_

Tsuna felt a twinge in his chest, as if the emotions his other self was feeling was being transferred to him instead.

**January 4, 2007**

_It's strange. These past few days, things in Namimori were getting worse. Well, to be honest, for almost two years now I've been seeing the changes and the other people have too, it seemed. A curfew had been issued by the ordinance not long ago. At six p.m., not a child must be seen on the streets and at eight p.m., every man and woman must be behind the safety of their homes._

_Maybe, it's because crimes were becoming too much to handle by the police. Long ago, when I was a child, I can remember a flapping gakuran and a small bird singing the school anthem of Namimori-chu. It was none other than Hibari- san and his pet bird._

_Hibari-san had been kind to me then, and all children in general._

_He knew me the most because no matter how smart I was, I kept getting lost, and he always patiently brought me home. Back then, there was no such thing as crimes, especially in the middle of the day because I saw him vividly beating some bullies into a pulp. Hibari-san was strong. Really strong from what I could see._

_But it had been years since then, I was terribly young and I didn't notice until now that Hibari-san hadn't been here since years ago. Exactly when, I didn't know. I can only hope that mother and I would remain safe._

Tsuna tapped the entry he was reading. To be honest, his brains had turned goo since that entry about Yamamoto but he couldn't just stop now. Every entry read, just made him all the more agitated and just downright perplexed at the on-goings of the life of this world's Tsunayoshi. He could feel a headache forming already. Sighing, he flipped to the next page.

**August 23, 2007**

_For a few months now, I've been having dreams. Dreams of blood, deaths, screams and gore in general. Was this some premonition that my life was coming to an end?_

Tsuna winced. Seriously, how could this kid sound so calm?

_Why did I have to be reminded that I only had about more or less two months to live? I know it, alright. My lungs were failing and it was getting harder to pretend around my mother and people in my school that I was ok and that nothing was wrong. But I can't stop now. I must keep going. Because right now there were more important things I needed to do._

_In my dreams of nothing but pain, I see flashes and glimpses of Take-nii, Hayato-san, and Hibari-san. Why were they appearing in my dreams?_

_The most disturbing thing was that they were all dead._

Tsuna froze, his heart skipping a beat. His fingers shook and his body gave a shudder so strong, it left his mind reeling. Just what the hell was going on? They weren't dreams. He can attest to that because the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this world was also gifted with Hyper Intuition, and having that meant  _knowing_. Knowing with vague clarity of what the future held. Tsuna felt tears forming at the corner of his eyes but his focus never wavered.

**October 1, 2007**

_I was dying. I could feel it. The spasms and the choked up feeling in my throat was becoming more frequent. None of the medicines work any longer. I could also feel my body getting more and more tired. It won't be long now before I go away completely_.

_I've accepted it so long ago that I'll die on or before my fifteenth birthday but recently, as my dreams become more vivid, I find myself wishing more and more that I could still live. Oh how I wish I could live. How I wish I could save them._

_Please let me live._

Tsuna felt heavy but he he knew he had to carry on, he was at the last entry now. He hesitated for a second before letting the final one greet his tired eyes. It was nearing midnight, after all.

**October 14, 2007**

_I'll die. I know I will. He told me so. But I pleaded desperately that he would let me live but he shook his head and refused. I needed to save them, why couldn't he understand?_

Tsuna paused from his reading. Who was 'he'?

_There was not much time, it was nearing midnight! I'm dying, can't he understand?! Who will save them?!_

Tsuna felt the tension building in his body, his senses beginning to act on its own. He knew this feeling. His Intuition was acting up.

_I was hysterical but I had every right to be because I understood too late. It was my fault that I didn't read the signs early. I wasted my life away trying to understand the irrelevant things when the clues were already throwing itself at my face._

_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry._

_But he promised me. He promised me. Someone will come. Someone will._

Tsuna felt his mouth go dry, his whole body giving off violent shivers one after another. Tsuna wrapped his arms around himself. What was happening to him?

_I can—_

_Weak...I feel weak._ _It's getting harder to keep my eyes open but just this last time, please._

_Please save them._

_Tenth boss of Vong—_

_Sawada Ts—_

_Myself._

And Tsuna screamed. The world faded to black. The last vestiges of his consciousness fading as  _his_ words resonated inside his head, his heart, his body, and soul.

_To Sawada Tsunayoshi, please save them._

* * *


End file.
